Tenant shocked by arms cache

2011-10-11 13:08

Pretoria - A woman who found it suspicious that her landlord kept rooms and cupboards locked to hide his weapons and ammunition, says she is worried she and her children could have died if the ammunition had exploded.

Gauteng police discovered an arms cache at the house in Centurion, west of Pretoria, on Monday, Lieutenant Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said on Tuesday.

"A total of 30 firearms and thousands of ammunitions [sic] of different calibre were found," he said.

The tenant explained she was only renting some of the rooms in the house.

Ndou said: "When police opened the rooms that the tenant was barred from entering, an assortment of firearms which includes .303 rifles, 9mm pistols, revolvers, pellet guns, army uniforms, police uniform, airforce uniform, police blue lights and hunting rifles, as well as various calibre of ammunition were found."

No arrests were made. The house owner is currently overseas.

"We are still going to pursue this because we only established who he is yesterday [Monday]. We need to keep his location secret for investigative purposes, and if we blow it out of proportion it might jeopardise the case," Ndou said.

Sniffer dogs

The tenant told the Beeld newspaper the owner was staying in London.

"It was a bit strange for me because most of the house's rooms and cupboards were locked," the 38-year-old women told the paper.

"There were clothes hanging in one of the cupboards, and the owner's dishwasher, tumble-dryer and dentist chairs were still in the house. When you move you take your things with you. A person doesn't stay with other people's stuff."

The tenant called a friend from the metro police, and he brought a sniffer dog to inspect the house on Monday afternoon. The dog caught the scent of weapons and explosives behind the locked doors, and the doors were broken down.

"When he [the owner] was here last weekend I asked him why the doors are locked, and if there were any guns in the house. He said he was a knife and gun collector, but his weapons were locked up at a trader's," she told Beeld.

"We don't know how long the stuff has been lying here for. What if it exploded? I have children in the house. We would have all died," said the tenant, who was not named.

Comments

joe777xxx@24.com - 2011-10-11 13:24

Weird setup,like to know what this is all about.

Willie_G - 2011-10-11 13:38

Time will tell... Things will get interesting!

Banana_Republic - 2011-10-11 13:29

I'm gonna start me a revolution. I'll hide the weapons in my house, then I'll rent it out to someone else.
Something doesnt add up here.

LadyJJ - 2011-10-11 13:49

I second that how do you rent a house with some rooms locked...she know more than what she is saying

Mattewis - 2011-10-11 14:23

I'm also with you guys on this one. Won't help to let the police investigate her though, as she has a friend in the Metro Police! Forget the journalists too! The "investigative" part of reporter should be replaced here in SA with "trashy". They just don't report news like they used to. SAPA should be ashamed, don't their journalists even ask questions?!

Daemos1 - 2011-10-11 13:34

pellet guns?

Michiel Meyer - 2011-10-11 13:35

Ammo simply doesn't explode by itself.

daaivark - 2011-10-11 13:44

But it can if kids fiddle with it.

Willie_G - 2011-10-11 13:51

Daaivark.. Didn't you catch the part where they said the doors were locked and had to be broken down.. It's been a while since I last saw a kid breakdown a locked door!!

Colin - 2011-10-11 16:55

daaivark tried to open one with a rock to see if he can eat it and it exploded

Fran - 2011-10-11 13:35

So there are people who have enough money to supply guns/amunition and blue lights to criminals and manage to live it up overseas as well? SA crimes is committed by many of us seeming to be living normal lives. I bet this will not be the last time we hear of a prominent business person with a multimillion rand house in the surbubs filled with guns and sullpiying to criminals, but they complain everday in newspapers that there is too much crime in this country. Huh

Nothing funny about more than 1 dentists chairs. Many dentists uses more than 1 chair.

Montblanc - 2011-10-11 16:32

Potential torture device? You have an over active mind, tooooo many videos!!
Only time a dentist chair is a torture device is when it is used to hit you over the head with.

Herbert - 2011-10-11 13:39

What if it exploded? what insane person expects ammo and weapons to just explode?

daaivark - 2011-10-11 13:47

Children in the house, Herbert. Children fiddle with stuff and can be very good at getting into places that are out-of-bounds.

DaWyqydLyzyrd - 2011-10-11 13:49

What's next on the 'cache' list, catapults? HTH? Hmm, and who blew the whistle? Something smells like BS...

sikabopha - 2011-10-11 13:49

your lease is cancelled snoopy, something does not add up in this story...

GuyverXT9 - 2011-10-11 13:56

Ammunition exploding? Oooooooooookay, clearly you're talking out of your arse. Might have been a blessing in disguise if the ammunition did "explode", rid the planet from morons, one by one.

Silversx - 2011-10-11 13:57

freaky very very freaky....dentist chairs? locked cupboards? i wouldnt stay there even if you paid me

Terence - 2011-10-11 13:59

Probably a lovers tiff and the Tennant wants payback!!! The dentists chair is a bit kinky though!

IC1 - 2011-10-11 14:05

Hmmm I am inclined to agree with you Terence

Kdub - 2011-10-11 14:01

Centurion is South of Pretoria - just saying

Willie_G - 2011-10-11 14:03

Not if you are News 24!!

IC1 - 2011-10-11 14:22

@Willie: LMFAO

sabc10 - 2011-10-11 14:44

It was previously called Verwoerdburgstad.
This tenant was likely a right winger sadistic dental university professor teaching ethics and jusrisprudence at a black univerisity
who "believed" he was under attack by communists.

Willie_G - 2011-10-11 14:52

@SABC10 - Perhaps watching a bit too much TV lately?

IC1 - 2011-10-11 15:17

@sabc10: yo yo yo, must be just as you say!

Fairly sane - 2011-10-11 14:09

Sooo....let me think about this. The house's location has been named as Centurion and it's a *rented* house with the owner *overseas in the UK*. If I was the owner and saw the story on Google news feed, it's not like I would be able to put the bits together and realise I'm in the dwang, really. And the police want to avoid publicity as it might hurt their investigation? Right....

Ke maketse - 2011-10-11 14:58

LOL.

Tolerant - 2011-10-11 14:17

It sounds like a dentist's private practice that went belly up and he went to work overesease. Dentists chairs are a bit big to take with.

Muhammud - 2011-10-11 14:22

"We are still going to pursue this because we only established who he is yesterday [Monday]. We need to keep his location secret for investigative purposes, and if we blow it out of proportion it might jeopardise the case," Ndou said.
The police are keeping this a secret??????????????????????
Its in the News............
Shooo dont tell anyone the owner of the house might find out?

Muhammud - 2011-10-11 14:22

Army Surplus store?

kea - 2011-10-11 14:27

She explained she was only renting "some" of the rooms in the house. Why was she sniffing in other peoples business!. Hope the owner has a licence for all the weapons and sues her and the cops panties off for them!.

mfundiNdaba - 2011-10-11 14:37

Hey, she could have found dead bodies in the freezer, no? maybe?

the kid! - 2011-10-11 14:29

Nosey tenant! If he locked it, it was out of bounds. I also think she knew what was going on. If I went to London to check it out but did not want to pack up and leave, or had a 6 month contract. I would also rent out my house and store all my stuff in a few rooms. Better security to have someone living there. So not so strange at all.

Ke maketse - 2011-10-11 15:02

Kante where exactly is Centurion? I thought its south-east of the city. I must be disoriented

Charmain - 2011-10-11 15:02

The tenant asked: ""When he [the owner] was here last weekend I asked him why the doors are locked, and if there were any guns in the house." Like this would be something coming up in daily conversation..between a tenant and the owner of a house?? I think the "tenant" knew more than she is letting on...

S.M - 2011-10-11 15:03

Pretoria - Gauteng police discovered an arms cache at a house in Wierdabrug in Centurion, west of Pretoria, an official said on Tuesday.
Police received a tip-off about the weapons at a house in Viking Street on Monday afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said.
Doesnt look like the location is such a secret....... I dont know Pretoria very well.... But seems that they have given pretty much every detail about the "secret location"

mbuzi mee - 2011-10-11 15:26

Lady JJ they said she is not renting the whole hse---------

youcantrunyoucanthide - 2011-10-11 16:06

This sounds like a lame attempt at a setup!

Freddie - 2011-10-12 10:40

The guy is reported to be a firearms collector and used to be a gunsmith. the lady should have minded her own business. Most of what they found also seemed to be parts of guns that can not be licensed individually. This guy should sue the cops and the tenant and lay a charge against her.

lmarima - 2012-01-11 19:12

The tenant caused problems for the landlord. Honesty from the landlord could have saved him/her, now jail is waiting if he ever comes back from overseas.